I don't like her, but I seriously don't see what the uproar is about. My great-grandmother grew up in Kentucky, and the stuff Paula Deen said doesn't hold a candle to the things she said.

/like "If you date a black man, I will disown you and you will burn in hell" then went on to describe what hell was like//why yes, she was Southern Baptist, how did you ever guess?///she was 92 when she died, and we all felt that was about 50 years too late

bborchar:I don't like her, but I seriously don't see what the uproar is about. My great-grandmother grew up in Kentucky, and the stuff Paula Deen said doesn't hold a candle to the things she said.

/like "If you date a black man, I will disown you and you will burn in hell" then went on to describe what hell was like//why yes, she was Southern Baptist, how did you ever guess?///she was 92 when she died, and we all felt that was about 50 years too late

Mad_Radhu:He also seems to be one of those Christians who actually seemed to have learned the right lessons from Jesus's teachings.

Perhaps so - when he takes on apolitical projects like guinea-worm eradication and Habitat for Humanity he does tremendous work...but when he involves himself in foreign policy he's a mess. For a supposed human rights leader he sure does have an unerring instinct for g ravitating to the nastiest dictator in the room.

Standing in line at the check out, I always see this chicks face plastered on her magazines with those cold dead piercing eyes and heavily photoshopped skin...she just looks like the joker version of "Ms. Buttersworth"

The lesson here is if you are going to do something embarrassing, don't do it while your viewing figures on TV has collapsed and your product sales are a fraction of what they used to be, as it is a great way of voiding your contracts, without the other businesses getting in trouble and sued when they want rid of you.

limeyfellow:The lesson here is if you are going to do something embarrassing, don't do it while your viewing figures on TV has collapsed and your product sales are a fraction of what they used to be, as it is a great way of voiding your contracts, without the other businesses getting in trouble and sued when they want rid of you.

The real lesson here is NEVER TELL THE TRUTH. No matter what. Deny everything. Nothing ever happened. I never did, man.

/I saw you with that other woman!//Wasn't me.///I know it was you! I *saw* you!////Hey....wasn't me.//Well maybe it wasn't you.....

ecl:bborchar: I don't like her, but I seriously don't see what the uproar is about. My great-grandmother grew up in Kentucky, and the stuff Paula Deen said doesn't hold a candle to the things she said.

/like "If you date a black man, I will disown you and you will burn in hell" then went on to describe what hell was like//why yes, she was Southern Baptist, how did you ever guess?///she was 92 when she died, and we all felt that was about 50 years too late

Because Paula isn't the *worst* she's not bad at all. Good logic.

Feel free to reread what I said for reading comprehension. Athletes get away with murder (literally), other actors and famous people have said much more awful things than her, yet still get jobs (Mel Gibson, anyone?). She says something that's definitely not good, and everyone starts treating her like Sandusky. It's an overreaction, plain and simple.

Gulper Eel:Mad_Radhu: He also seems to be one of those Christians who actually seemed to have learned the right lessons from Jesus's teachings.

Perhaps so - when he takes on apolitical projects like guinea-worm eradication and Habitat for Humanity he does tremendous work...but when he involves himself in foreign policy he's a mess. For a supposed human rights leader he sure does have an unerring instinct for gravitating to the nastiest dictator in the room.

Carter always sees the best in people and that's a terrible trait in someone involved in world politics.

Most of her defenders hate Jimmy Carter. Paula Deen is a horrible person who makes horrible food that slow kills people including herself. That a horrible person had dreams of having a slave owners wedding her entire life and decided to make that happen is not surprising. What is surprising is how many people admit to having this same dream. Thanks 0bama.

ristst:limeyfellow: The lesson here is if you are going to do something embarrassing, don't do it while your viewing figures on TV has collapsed and your product sales are a fraction of what they used to be, as it is a great way of voiding your contracts, without the other businesses getting in trouble and sued when they want rid of you.

The real lesson here is NEVER TELL THE TRUTH. No matter what. Deny everything. Nothing ever happened. I never did, man.

/I saw you with that other woman!//Wasn't me.///I know it was you! I *saw* you!////Hey....wasn't me.//Well maybe it wasn't you.....

Anyone else forget that the trial isn't about "Paula Deen said the n-word", but "Paula Deen and her brother systematically violated employment laws, while abusing and assaulting their staff, all the while demonstrating a clear racial bias in both policy and action, over a lengthy period of time?"

Focus on the fact that she mentioned that she said the n-word 30 years ago, and feel free to argue about that, but keep in mind that the stuff alleged in the complaint happened less than three ago. It's not ancient history, and, yes, we could forgive her for using the n-word 30 years ago. The complaint alleges that she used it 3 years ago - and that she condoned her brother's actions, at some of which she was present, when her brother would scream at African-American staff members, grab and shake them, threaten them, treat them like servants, tell off-color racially and sexually inappropriate jokes. Sometimes, she'd participate in those actions. The woman who filed the complaint isn't the only witness being called, as several other former employees are now involved, too, so it's not a "he said, she said" case, nor is it extortion - both of which have been alleged by her defense.

Her partners aren't dropping her for saying the n-word 30 years ago. Her partners are dropping her because, in one of her restaurants, she condoned and participated in systematic violations of employment laws, while abusing and assaulting their staff, all the while demonstrating a clear racial bias in both policy and action, over a lengthy period of time.

Simply put, she's damaged goods, and has yet to demonstrate any form of contrition other than her pseudo-apologies. The only 'change' she's apparently performed over the last three decadesis learning to keep her mouth less open.

bborchar:I don't like her, but I seriously don't see what the uproar is about. My great-grandmother grew up in Kentucky, and the stuff Paula Deen said doesn't hold a candle to the things she said.

/like "If you date a black man, I will disown you and you will burn in hell" then went on to describe what hell was like//why yes, she was Southern Baptist, how did you ever guess?///she was 92 when she died, and we all felt that was about 50 years too late

If you had said 95, I would have been asking which one of my cousins you are...

My grandmother would say the scariest things and then act like she was commenting on the weather. She died last year - for the last 40 years, we were reminded to be nice to her "because she would not be here much longer." Yeah, right...

FormlessOne:Simply put, she's damaged goods, and has yet to demonstrate any form of contrition other than her pseudo-apologies. The only 'change' she's apparently performed over the last three decadesis learning to keep her mouth less open.

A good distillation; people are way over-focused on the bygones of the story and in that is lost the current problems that are the root of the employment lawsuit against her. Nobody can sue someone for calling them a racist epithet 30 years after the fact; she's being sued (along with her brother) for still being unethical employers.

limeyfellow:The lesson here is if you are going to do something embarrassing, don't do it while your viewing figures on TV has collapsed and your product sales are a fraction of what they used to be, as it is a great way of voiding your contracts, without the other businesses getting in trouble and sued when they want rid of you.

Yup, esp. considering how long it took some of her sponsors to decide.If it was only because of their outrage it would've been immediate.As it was those sponsers were just waiting to see how the wind blew (& checking their numbers) before deciding whether or not to be outraged...

But also I honestly can't understand how some people think. For example, folks in MA not only let Ted Kennedy avoid jail time after HE LEFT A WOMAN TO DIE, he also ended up having a long term in the Senate.Meanwhile a woman like Tonya Harding is still vilified for being an accessory to a knee-whacking?

So, I'm not a Paula or a Tonya fan, but honestly - if people can forgive guys like Ted, or Mike Tyson (who was jailed for rape -and- bit a guys ear off) why are some women never forgiven much lesser crimes?

FormlessOne:Anyone else forget that the trial isn't about "Paula Deen said the n-word", but "Paula Deen and her brother systematically violated employment laws, while abusing and assaulting their staff, all the while demonstrating a clear racial bias in both policy and action, over a lengthy period of time?"

Focus on the fact that she mentioned that she said the n-word 30 years ago, and feel free to argue about that, but keep in mind that the stuff alleged in the complaint happened less than three ago. It's not ancient history, and, yes, we could forgive her for using the n-word 30 years ago. The complaint alleges that she used it 3 years ago - and that she condoned her brother's actions, at some of which she was present, when her brother would scream at African-American staff members, grab and shake them, threaten them, treat them like servants, tell off-color racially and sexually inappropriate jokes. Sometimes, she'd participate in those actions. The woman who filed the complaint isn't the only witness being called, as several other former employees are now involved, too, so it's not a "he said, she said" case, nor is it extortion - both of which have been alleged by her defense.

Her partners aren't dropping her for saying the n-word 30 years ago. Her partners are dropping her because, in one of her restaurants, she condoned and participated in systematic violations of employment laws, while abusing and assaulting their staff, all the while demonstrating a clear racial bias in both policy and action, over a lengthy period of time.

Simply put, she's damaged goods, and has yet to demonstrate any form of contrition other than her pseudo-apologies. The only 'change' she's apparently performed over the last three decadesis learning to keep her mouth less open.

Thank you! THIS is what I've been telling my friends who try to defend her...read the complaints. It's more than uttering a bad word.

My rule of thumb is that white men don't have permission to tell non-white people that they need to forgive a white person for doing something racist. So sorry Jimmy, you've done a lot of good things but you don't get to decide when this story is over. The offense wasn't against you so you don't get to decide when all is forgiven.

I cannot forgive her because I never gave a shiat in the first place. If her TV show and books are being dropped, that's someone's business decision and, again, not my shiat to give. If you've pondered this non-issue for more than a minute, you have taken the position of loser.

FormlessOne:Anyone else forget that the trial isn't about "Paula Deen said the n-word", but "Paula Deen and her brother systematically violated employment laws, while abusing and assaulting their staff, all the while demonstrating a clear racial bias in both policy and action, over a lengthy period of time?"

Focus on the fact that she mentioned that she said the n-word 30 years ago, and feel free to argue about that, but keep in mind that the stuff alleged in the complaint happened less than three ago. It's not ancient history, and, yes, we could forgive her for using the n-word 30 years ago. The complaint alleges that she used it 3 years ago - and that she condoned her brother's actions, at some of which she was present, when her brother would scream at African-American staff members, grab and shake them, threaten them, treat them like servants, tell off-color racially and sexually inappropriate jokes. Sometimes, she'd participate in those actions. The woman who filed the complaint isn't the only witness being called, as several other former employees are now involved, too, so it's not a "he said, she said" case, nor is it extortion - both of which have been alleged by her defense.

Her partners aren't dropping her for saying the n-word 30 years ago. Her partners are dropping her because, in one of her restaurants, she condoned and participated in systematic violations of employment laws, while abusing and assaulting their staff, all the while demonstrating a clear racial bias in both policy and action, over a lengthy period of time.

Simply put, she's damaged goods, and has yet to demonstrate any form of contrition other than her pseudo-apologies. The only 'change' she's apparently performed over the last three decadesis learning to keep her mouth less open.

So much this. I could care less about her dropping an N-bomb in the past. It's the rest of what she's up to that disturbs me.

give me doughnuts:John 8:7"So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her."

There was a pause, and then a rock flew from the crowd, striking Jesus in the forehead. He staggered to his feet, wiping the blood from his face, peered into the crowd, and said "Dammit Mom, not funny!"

Nina_Hartley's_Ass:bborchar: My great-grandmother grew up in Kentucky, and the stuff Paula Deen said doesn't hold a candle to the things she said.

Is your great-grandmother a millionaire who whines about not having a cable cooking show and millions in endorsement deals?

No, she whined about how God didn't take her as well when her only son was killed cheating on my grandma, and then her husband took his life a year later back in the 50's. Our family was just a reminder to her that she no longer had her son, and lived to torment us all until she died 10 years ago. I would have rather had this situation, to be honest.

nanim:limeyfellow: The lesson here is if you are going to do something embarrassing, don't do it while your viewing figures on TV has collapsed and your product sales are a fraction of what they used to be, as it is a great way of voiding your contracts, without the other businesses getting in trouble and sued when they want rid of you.

Yup, esp. considering how long it took some of her sponsors to decide.If it was only because of their outrage it would've been immediate.As it was those sponsers were just waiting to see how the wind blew (& checking their numbers) before deciding whether or not to be outraged...

But also I honestly can't understand how some people think. For example, folks in MA not only let Ted Kennedy avoid jail time after HE LEFT A WOMAN TO DIE, he also ended up having a long term in the Senate.Meanwhile a woman like Tonya Harding is still vilified for being an accessory to a knee-whacking?

So, I'm not a Paula or a Tonya fan, but honestly - if people can forgive guys like Ted, or Mike Tyson (who was jailed for rape -and- bit a guys ear off) why are some women never forgiven much lesser crimes?

/soapboxing day

Personally, I consider the punishment. I wasn't alive during the TK incident but I know dad never forgave him. MT did jail time, so let it go. TH really didn't get punished. Yes it was minor but when she cried I in front of the world over a broken shoelace, I lost all respect for her. PD is just now facing punishment for her misdeeds. In time, we won't care she was ever there.